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One of the few sour notes in our initial review of the Nintendo Switch last year was for the "surprisingly flimsy" kickstand. Not only does the thin, plastic, flip-down strip on the system's rear feel poised to snap off at the slightest pressure, but using the kickstand prevents you from simultaneously charging the system from the bottom-mounted USB port.

Nintendo seems to be acknowledging this problem after the fact, announcing a $20 Adjustable Charging Stand that will "enable longer play sessions" in tabletop mode starting July 13. Users will be able to charge the system via a USB-C plug on the side while tilting the stand "to create the best viewing angle for different environments," according to Nintendo's online shop listing.

Further Reading

Nintendo's solution for better tabletop play comes well after a number of similar third-party stands for the Switch have hit the market, many of which retail for less than $20. The "official" stand, though, benefits from an extremely compact design and the assurance that it will conform to the Switch's USB-C charging requirements (the stand doesn't seem to come packaged with an extra wall charger, though).

Further Reading

As nice as this new charging stand looks, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo didn't just go one step further and turn this into a full-fledged miniature dock for the Switch. The addition of a simple HDMI output would turn a simple stand into a much more compact and cost-efficient way of hooking the Switch up to a TV, compared to the bulky (and insultingly expensive) $90 extra docks Nintendo currently sells à la carte (or a $60 dock sold separately from the $30 wall charger).

Nyko's $50 portable dock brings the improved form factor but comes with some deal-breakers that an official mini-dock could probably fix. So how about it, Nintendo?

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Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

"As nice as this new charging stand looks, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo didn't just go one step further and turn this into a full-fledged miniature dock for the Switch."

The reason for that is that the Switch doesn't do HDMI output natively. The dock has a DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip on-board. So adding the extra electronics would increase cost and size. The extra plastic for the full dock is not why it's more money.

True but with the sometimes dodgy quality of USB-C accessories, this is one area where I'd spend the extra $10 for the peace of mind.

This thing doesn't come with a wall charger or even a USB-C cable though, so you either have to go unplug your switch charger from behind the TV somewhere or get another cable.

It would have been really nice if they included the cable, since getting high quality ones is a bit of a crapshoot. I'd buy one in a minute as a "travel kit" that I could plug into one of the zillion portable batteries I have.

1. Make a good product with obvious issues2. Wait until people have become loud enough about the issues3. CHARGE money to resolve issues/implement things that should've been a part of the original purchase price/design4. Profit...

Is it really worth saving $10 to potentially fry your $300 console because some fly-by-night operation in Shenzhen didn't follow the USB-C spec?

What. This dock is nothing more than a USB C extender. How is it going to fry your console? Even the cheapest USB C cables/extenders can support the 15w power throughput that the switch uses in portable mode.

This is ZERO risk in this because it doesn't involve anything technical at all other than a usb c extender.

"As nice as this new charging stand looks, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo didn't just go one step further and turn this into a full-fledged miniature dock for the Switch."

The reason for that is that the Switch doesn't do HDMI output natively. The dock has a DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip on-board. So adding the extra electronics would increase cost and size. The extra plastic for the full dock is not why it's more money.

I understand that adding the output ability would increase the cost and size, but given the _current_ cost and size, I have to believe it could still be cheaper/smaller than the $90 monstrosity of the current official dock.

It's not mutually exclusive either. You could make/market both a $20 charging stand and a $60 "mini-dock" (complete guess on price) that's a bit bigger and includes the HDMI functions.

Make an honest mistake in product design while trying your best to keep costs low so your flagship product is as affordable as possible, do your best to fix it later and get shit on by self-righteous internet crusaders trying to look cool.

True but with the sometimes dodgy quality of USB-C accessories, this is one area where I'd spend the extra $10 for the peace of mind.

This thing doesn't come with a wall charger or even a USB-C cable though, so you either have to go unplug your switch charger from behind the TV somewhere or get another cable.

It would have been really nice if they included the cable, since getting high quality ones is a bit of a crapshoot. I'd buy one in a minute as a "travel kit" that I could plug into one of the zillion portable batteries I have.

They charge $30 for the adapter standalone, probably not going to include it with a $20 stand. They don't even bundle it with the $60 replacement dock - accessories are where you gouge people

"As nice as this new charging stand looks, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo didn't just go one step further and turn this into a full-fledged miniature dock for the Switch."

The reason for that is that the Switch doesn't do HDMI output natively. The dock has a DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip on-board. So adding the extra electronics would increase cost and size. The extra plastic for the full dock is not why it's more money.

I understand that adding the output ability would increase the cost and size, but given the _current_ cost and size, I have to believe it could still be cheaper/smaller than the $90 monstrosity of the current official dock.

It's not mutually exclusive either. You could make/market both a $20 charging stand and a $60 "mini-dock" (complete guess on price) that's a bit bigger and includes the HDMI functions.

I don't get why Nintendo doesn't just make one already. The official dock's PCB board is already pretty small, and there's plenty of plastic shells already where you can just slide in the PCB from the official dock into it and it'll work flawlessly...

They even sell the official stand alone dock for $60...

They only need to find a new manufacturer (or use a existing one) to make the new shell... (hell, putting the board into the small shell is easier than assembling the 5 pieces of the big dock)

I already have a Hori stand and portable USB-C charger but I might still get this to have less to set up to play. Although it is nice that the Hori stand fits in the Switch case and the charger fits in my Pro controller case.

"As nice as this new charging stand looks, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo didn't just go one step further and turn this into a full-fledged miniature dock for the Switch."

The reason for that is that the Switch doesn't do HDMI output natively. The dock has a DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip on-board. So adding the extra electronics would increase cost and size. The extra plastic for the full dock is not why it's more money.

I understand that adding the output ability would increase the cost and size, but given the _current_ cost and size, I have to believe it could still be cheaper/smaller than the $90 monstrosity of the current official dock.

It's not mutually exclusive either. You could make/market both a $20 charging stand and a $60 "mini-dock" (complete guess on price) that's a bit bigger and includes the HDMI functions.

Depending on how much bigger it needs to be it'd be tempting to get the latter, even if you primarily use it as an on-the-go portable mode charging stand, just to have the option of plugging it into a TV on the other end if you really want to. I've found tabletop mode using the Hori stand and a Pro controller to be a very nice way to play even, say, in a hotel room while on work travel, but having the option to plug into the room's TV would have still been nice.

Make an honest mistake in product design while trying your best to keep costs low so your flagship product is as affordable as possible, do your best to fix it later and get shit on by self-righteous internet crusaders trying to look cool.

Get shit on for selling what's essentially $2 in hardware for $20 fixing THEIR design flaw? Yeah, that's not "self righteous" that's calling out BS when they see it. The damn thing doesn't even include a cable. Stop with your holier than thou act, corp's deserve to get called out when they screw over people. They make product A with design flaw. They then start selling an add-on to mitigate flaw, add-on doesn't include cabling or anything and is sold at a 2000% markup, so please, tell me how they don't deserve some crap for this?

Make an honest mistake in product design while trying your best to keep costs low so your flagship product is as affordable as possible, do your best to fix it later and get shit on by self-righteous internet crusaders trying to look cool.

Drink the corporate cool-aid while trying to mentally justify yourself as objective. Make stupid post(s) defending indefensible business practices of aforementioned sleazy company.

Forget about a stand, this would be nice for charging while playing in handheld mode. The position of the charge port is terrible for that. I've thought about taking apart an extender and printing an angled, solid piece like this just to get the cable out of the way.

Once again--and I'm totally serious--we see Nintendo's genius. Nintendo making more profit on a flaw. And I wouldn't doubt the very good possibility that this design flaw was intentional to begin with: some Nintendo group comprising engineers and marketers get together in conference rooms and devise intentional deficiencies that can be corrected and monetized in the future with an additional peripheral or attachment; of course, said attachment is not free; in fact, it's cheap to manufacture, and prophet percentage per unit is high.

Edit: Ninja'd by haroldt1234. And for a change, it's good to hear voices rightly critical of Nintendo.

Make an honest mistake in product design while trying your best to keep costs low so your flagship product is as affordable as possible, do your best to fix it later and get shit on by self-righteous internet crusaders trying to look cool.

Drink the corporate cool-aid while trying to mentally justify yourself as objective. Make stupid post(s) defending indefensible business practices of aforementioned sleazy company.

After I locked down a day-one preorder for the Switch last year, I dug around looking for a good Switch carrying case and found that Nintendo was only selling its "official" one in Japan. The main reason I got it is, wouldn't you know it, it doubles as a stand at the exact same angle as this new charging stand.

Also holds five cartridges. I'm a big fan of it. You don't get the charging that this dock offers, mind you, but I rarely find myself able to reach a plug when out-and-about with my Switch while wanting to share tabletop-mode games. I find today's new dock to actually be kind of silly, as a result, since I doubt I'll be setting this up at a bar and asking the 'tender to reach over and plug my USB-C cord in for me.

1. Make a good product with obvious issues2. Wait until people have become loud enough about the issues3. CHARGE money to resolve issues/implement things that should've been a part of the original purchase price/design4. Profit...

Hey, buddy, this is proprietary information straight from Nintendo's strategic plan (and used by Apple). I think you've just opened yourself up to some kind of lawsuit.

I called Nintendo and was specially told that going to a friend's house and plugging the Switch into the TV is NOT considered a "portable" use of the Switch. Nintendo considers ONLY hand held operation to be "portable" and won't support a smaller, pocketable version of the dock.

I killed a Switch with a Fastsnail adapter already. Lucky me it was before the problem was well known and Nintendo fixed it. Because of this I'm buying an extra dock and tearing it apart to build my own pocketable adapter. It was either that or throw my Switch through the biggest window I could find at Nintendo HQ.

I fly/travel for work and the standard dock is a complete joke. This little piece of plastic is basically useless since I bought a stand day 1. I don't understand how a company that does so many smart things has its head so clearly up it's asinine so often.

Make an honest mistake in product design while trying your best to keep costs low so your flagship product is as affordable as possible, do your best to fix it later and get shit on by self-righteous internet crusaders trying to look cool.

I love the insinuation that we should just say of the 100+ year old, multi-billion dollar, international corporate giant, "Aw shucks, at least they tried, bless their hearts."

Nintendo royally fucked up with the 5.0 firmware and it will brick your Switch if you use a third party device to re-route a video signal through USB-C. The reason is because the Switch isn't fully compliant with USB-C standards.

It's really quite stupid, and Nintendo deserves shit for 1) not releasing their own portable dock for their portable system and 2) not being fully USB-C compliant.